


Private Moments

by suganegg



Category: Gatchaman Crowds
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4987963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suganegg/pseuds/suganegg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe and Sugane confess their feelings post-Insight episode 9.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Private Moments

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like seeing alan and sugane get hurt in front of him and not being able to do anything wouldve pushed joe back towards the place he was in s1.... but i like exploring the more vulnerable side of joe and sugane being the forward one wrt their relationship lmao

Joe snaps to attention as a low groan emanates from the center of the room, cloth rustling as Sugane attempts to push himself onto his elbows.

“Don’t try to sit up yet,” he instructs, placing a hand on Sugane’s shoulder and gingerly helping him to lie back down.

Sugane winces as he settles into place, taking a look around the room. “Where’s Utsutsu?”

“Her apartment. I told her she needed to rest and that I’d watch over you while she’s gone. The others are still out, too.”

Sugane nods, staring up at the ceiling as his hand glides absently over the bandages crisscrossing his chest. Silence falls over the two men as they sit together, muffled noises from the city below being the only sounds between them. Joe stares at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists as feelings of remorse wash over him and eat away at his stomach.

“Sugane,” he starts, his voice wavering, “I’m sorry.”

“Joe-san…?”

“If I hadn’t tried to fight Gel Sadra… If I had done _better_ , this wouldn’t have happened.” Joe laughs bitterly at himself, shaking his head. “I’m the one who made the world the way it is now, who created this atmosphere where innocent people are getting swallowed up, and I can’t even fix it without hurting more people.”

“Joe-san,” Sugane tries to sit up again, grimacing through the pain that the action causes.

“Sugane, don’t—”

Sugane shakes his head and catches Joe’s wrists in his hands, lacing their fingers together, stopping Joe mid-sentence. He takes a moment to catch his breath, then looks up with an intensity that Joe’s never seen before and finds that he can’t meet.

“All of us… All of us got caught up in the atmosphere and went along with things. We all contributed and didn’t think about how or why it could be wrong, we just knew it felt good to go along with the flow. But Joe-san, even though you helped create that atmosphere, you’re the reason I stopped to think. You’re why I was able to end up by myself and realize what was wrong. It’s not your fault that I got hurt.”

“It still shouldn’t have happened,” Joe insists, staring at the wall over Sugane’s shoulder. “It was still too close. If those blades had gone any deeper, if the angle had been different, then maybe you wouldn’t be here now.”

“But it _did_ happen, and I lived. If I hadn’t been there, and you had gotten hurt instead, would that have been any better?” Sugane squeezes Joe’s hands tightly, “Joe-san, I’m with you. I’m still alive, sitting here in front of you. Look at me.”

Joe does, bringing his eyes up to meet Sugane’s golden gaze. He takes in their intertwined fingers, the bandages around Sugane’s wound, the pallor of his skin. He completely takes in Sugane, who had risked his life to save him, who still sits with him now, breathing and alive.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Joe admits, his voice little more than a whisper, the vulnerability in it undeniable.

“I don’t want to lose you, either. I… I love you, Joe-san.”

Joe blinks, watching as Sugane pushes himself onto his knees and bridges the gap between them. Soft lips meet his own and they kiss, gently and hesitantly.

“Sugane…”

“I love you.” Sugane repeats, his voice steady, bringing his hand up to cup the side of Joe’s face.

Joe stares wide-eyed at the blond in front of him, who seems so different now from the one he met a decade ago. So different now from even the one he knew a year ago. The blond with conviction drawn on his face, who is really seeing him, _all_ of him, and is the one who’s doing the saving now instead.

He chuckles, moving Sugane’s hand away from his face to clasp it in his own, and presses their foreheads together.

“I love you, too.”


End file.
